The BBC's Stephen Sackur in Miami"A show of overwhelming force" real 28kThe BBC's Nick Bryantreports on the history of the struggle over Elian Gonzalez real 28kThe BBC's Tom Gibb in Havana"The government called on citizens not to take to the streets in demonstrations" real 28k

Sunday, 23 April, 2000, 01:12 GMT 02:12 UK

Elian reunited with father

Elian and his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez

Cuban shipwreck boy Elian Gonzalez has been reunited with his father in Washington.

The six-year-old was snatched at the home of his Miami relatives in a pre-dawn raid by heavily armed federal officers.

There was a wonderful smile and close, comfortable physical contact between Elian and his father

Lawyer Gregory Craig

Thousand of Cuban exiles gathered outside the house to express their dismay at the forcible removal of the boy, who has been hailed as an icon of anti-Castro sentiment.

Elian has been at the centre of a bitter custody battle between his Miami relatives and his Cuban father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, since he was shipwrecked off the Florida coast last November.

'Wonderful smile'

Mr Gonzalez boarded the plane carrying Elian the moment it arrived at Andrews Air Force Base.

The moment that Elian was snatched

Mr Gonzalez's lawyer, Gregory Craig, said his client looked relieved when he saw his son for the first time in five months.

"There was a wonderful smile and close, comfortable physical contact between Elian and his father.

"It is amazing how quickly that bond re-established itself. It was almost instantaneous."

The Miami-based relatives went to Washington in the hope of seeing the child but they were not allowed onto the airbase where he is staying with his father.

Protesters set fire to rubbish skips

Some 80 people were arrested in the Little Havana district where demonstrators set fire to refuse and old tyres. The police used tear-gas to disperse the protestors several times during the day.

Cuba rally

In Cuba, Elian's grandmothers joined President Fidel Castro at a government-organised rally to celebrate the child's reunion with his father.

The grandmothers said they had spoken to Elian after he had met his father and little brother.

A BBC correspondent in Cuba says the authorities are portaying Elian's return to his father as a great victory over Cuban Americans in Havana.

Dawn raid

A swat team of about 25 officers broke down the door of the home of the boy's uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, shortly after 0500 local time (0900 GMT) on Saturday and re-emerged seconds later with the crying boy wrapped in a blanket.

The official account

Eight agents involved

Operation lasts three minutes

Female agent comforts Elian in Spanish

Elian taken to Watts Island and then on to Homestead Air Base by helicopter

Examined by doctor at Homestead

Elian then put on a US Marshall's plane to Washington DC

They drove Elian away in an unmarked car, as the stunned crowd outside the house shouted protests.

The whole operation was over in three minutes.

Donato Dalrymple, one of the fishermen who rescued Elian last year, was in the home at the time of the snatch.

Woken by Elian's cries, he scooped up the scared child and tried to hide in a closet.

Mr Dalrymple said federal agents pointed guns at the family and shouted: "Give me the boy or I'll shoot you!"

Clinton support

In a brief statement, President Bill Clinton said that he supported Attorney-General Janet Reno's decision to order the raid.

"The law was upheld and that was the right thing to do," he said.

Elian's cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez (left) weeps

Ms Reno said that Elian would remain in the US in accordance with the appeal court injunction against the boy being taken to Cuba.

"We have been to great lengths to resolve this in the least disruptive way possible. Up until the last moment we tried every way we could to encourage Lazaro Gonzalez to voluntarily hand over the child.